1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to skis in general, including but not limited to cross-country skis, alpine skis, and mountaineering skis. In particular, the present invention is directed to manufacturing skis to have means for receiving screws used when mounting shoe retention bindings on skis. Specifically, the present invention is directed to providing a section of the ski to which bindings are normally mounted with a plurality of bores arranged to correspond to particular arrangements of screw holes of binding hardware during the manufacture of the ski.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Materials
Modern skis include a predefined mounting zone situated in an intermediate portion of the ski known as the waist, i.e., the area on which the boot is normally positioned, which is located between the shovel or blade and the heel or tail of the ski. The mounting zone is normally reinforced to a certain degree to allow for using screws to mount the bindings to the skis. In order to facilitate the mounting of binding, it is common to provide mounting reference points for installing the bindings which makes it possible to place the shoe or boot in the proper position on this zone.
The mounting of bindings is performed most often in retail ski shops after the skis have been shipped from the factory. In conventional procedures for mounting the bindings, boring templates as well as boring apparatus, such as drills, screw drivers, pliers and other hand tools are required to guarantee the purchasers of the skis and bindings a correct installation of the bindings on the skis and the use of proper materials. This procedure for mounting bindings to skis, however, is a delicate operation to execute by virtue of the various parameters, such as the length of the shoes or boots, the position of the template, the diameter of the screws and the thickness of the skis, which must be taken into account. The procedure is often annoying and, in any event, is normally time consuming. More importantly, however, proper mounting of bindings to skis require the expertise of qualified ski mechanics. Regardless of the experience of the mechanic, however, there is always the possible risk of error on the part of the installer which could result in damage to or destruction of the ski.